Michael Lamar White II (born June 18, 1999), known professionally as Trippie Redd, is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He is one of the most prominent members of the SoundCloud rap scene, which gained mainstream acclaim in the late 2010s. His debut mixtape, A Love Letter to You (2017), and its lead single, "Love Scars", propelled him to popularity. Trippie Redd's singles "Dark Knight Dummo", "Taking a Walk", and "Topanga" all reached the Billboard Hot 100. His debut studio album, Life's a Trip (2018), and sophomore album, ! (2019),[8] both reached the top five of the Billboard 200, while his fourth mixtape, A Love Letter to You 4 (2019), topped the chart. Trippie Redd's third studio album, Pegasus (2020) and his fourth studio album Trip at Knight (2021) both reached number two on the Billboard 200. White has a younger brother nicknamed "Hippie Redd" and had an older brother who made music under the name "Dirty Redd". Dirty Redd was killed in a car accident in 2014, and White talked to Rolling Stone about the time following the fatal accident. White grew up in Canton, though he moved to Columbus, Ohio, several times. His interest in music began when his mother played Ashanti, Beyoncé, Tupac, and Nas while White was growing up. He later listened to artists such as T-Pain, Kiss, Nirvana, Gucci Mane, Fountains of Wayne, the Ataris, Green Day, the Offspring, Cute Is What We Aim For, Simple Plan, the Summer Set, Hit the Lights, Marilyn Manson and Lil Wayne. White began rapping after being inspired by Taevion Williams, another rapper who went by the stage name Lil Tae. White began taking his music career seriously and began recording music, releasing "Sub-Zero" and "New Ferrari" in 2014 but soon deleting those songs. Following his high school graduation, White moved to Atlanta, where he met rapper Lil Wop and was eventually offered a deal with a record label.